Please Love Me, Once More
by Pixietails
Summary: [Shounen ai] Every night, Kei is taken to the Manor of Sleep in his restless dreams. Every night, Kei seeks out his niece Mio. But one night, the ghost of a past friend appears, calling to him. Is Mafuyu trying to convey a message?


**Disclaimer: I don't own Fatal Frame, nor it's characters, most unfortunately. If I did, I would so have Mafuyu as my little love slave...**

**Warnings: Slight shounen-ai, spoilers for Fatal Frame, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterflyand Fatal Frame III: The Tormented. 'Bout covered everything, there...**

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_Sleep, priestess, lie in peace..._

_Sleep, priestess, lie in peace..._

Snow fell gently over the old Japanese manor, the small flakes glittering like crystals in the flickering candlelight of the courtyard. Several gravestones were piled on top of each other, the words carved into them so faded that they were now impossible to read. A pale figure stood next to a set of double doors, his dark hair obscuring his fair face, white shirt seeming to glow, giving him an almost ethereal appearance.

_Didn't we promise...that we would always...be together?_

"Mayu!"

A teenaged girl ran quickly down a long hallway, the floor boards creaking under her feet as a crimson butterfly floated teasingly before her, just out of her reach. Her breath was coming fast and she nearly slipped in a patch of snow from a broken board in the ceiling, but she caught herself, trying to make up for lost time. However, when she rounded the corner up ahead, nothing was there, her image fading from the old, grimy mirror she passed.

_If the priestess wakes from her dream..._

_Who did I come here for?_

_I want to see him...once more..._

"Yuu...I'm sorry..."

Rain lashed down on the smashed car, glass glinting eerily from the street lamp nearby. A young man lay inside the wreckage, blood covering his handsome face, one arm lying haphazardly out of the shattered window. A woman's anguished sobs rose above the steady drum of rainfall.

_The two chosen children will rise to heaven on the wings of a butterfly..._

"Kill me..."

The girl who had been chasing the butterfly now sat above her sister, one leg on each side of the girl, hands placed on her twin's throat. As though in a trance, her grip tightened, the girl beneath her putting up no resistance. As the throttled girl's life slipped slowly away, veiled priests stepped forward, ready to throw the sacrificed twin into the Hellish Abyss...

_Perform the rite of stakes, her limbs pinned tight..._

Four little girls stood around a tattooed priestess in the Chamber of Thorns, the young woman's skin blue with tattoos. Bearing the pain of holly, the pain of others...The girls each placed one of the tattoo stakes each hand and foot, raised their hammers and impaled the priestess, pinning her to the floor like so many others surrounding her.

_Mafuyu..._

_Lest the doors open wide, and suffering unleashed on all._

"Mafuyu!"

Kei woke with a start, finding himself laying on a soft red mat in the middle of a tiny room, the walls completely covered with red straw dolls. Each doll was impaled by a stake, placed so closely together that the wooden walls beneath were unable to be seen. The candles on the small altar gave the room a dull crimson glow, illuminating the eerie _waraningyou_ and giving them a sinister appearance. Sitting up, Kei discovered the Camera Obscura was sitting beside him, along with his flashlight.

_Was I dreaming? But...this is the dream...isn't it? I don't even know anymore..._

He was here for Mio, his niece, the poor girl who was currently in a coma from shock. It wasn't difficult to understand why; she had lost her sister and her mother at the same time. But...what had that vision been about? The twins performing the ceremony...Mio was strangling Mayu.

Had that really happened? Had Mio been forced to murder her sister?

It was too terrible to think about. Pushing that as far from his mind as possible, he collected the light and the camera, then stood up, taking a quick look around the doll altar room before exiting through the small door. The room seriously creeped him out, eliciting an involuntary shudder from the man. Outside it was cold—odd, since he was dreaming (...wasn't he?)— snow falling into the small square garden by the so-called Spirit Tree. He started walking, not sure where he intended to go, but his mind was not on finding his niece...

_Mafuyu...why are you in my dreams?_

The man in the grave courtyard had definitely been Mafuyu; Kei would recognize him anywhere. The slight build, a little shorter than the average Japanese man, black, chin-length hair that stuck out with a mind of its own...that pretty, almost feminine face...

Whoa. He had really gotten distracted there. When did he end up at the Engraving Shrine? The air was thick and heavy here, opressing, making it slightly difficult to breathe. Thankfully there were no ghosts around, though the spirits tended to be drawn to miasmatic areas, their souls tainted. Well, there were none that he could sense, at any rate. He had been ambushed several times already from his poor sixth sense, unable to detect the wraiths until they were on top of him.

_I should be looking for Mio. I need to help _her

Kei frowned a little as he walked cautiously forward, his reflection in the small mirror on the altar causing him to jump. Help Mio? He couldn't even help himself. Each day when he woke up the snake and holly tattoo grew larger, the pain spreading steadily over his body. He was going to die soon, he knew that. How could he help Mio if he was going to die?

As he opened the doors to a stone staircase, something told Kei that his niece was not down here. She was back in the house, back in the sections that resembled Minakami Village. But that didn't seem to matter at the moment; he was being called, summoned, down to the Abyss...

The next room past the stone stairwell was huge in the sense that it seemed to spiral down forever, the metal stairway leading down winding and seemingly infinitely long. It took him quite a long time to reach the bottom, but when he finally did, his heart gave an uncontrollable jolt as he saw Mafuyu step through the large doors—without opening them.

"Wait!"

Kei ran after him and pushed the doors open, only to be greeted by a blinding light. He had a brief image of a long bridge implanted in his mind...then his body felt inexplicably light, his mind going momentarily blank. When suddenly he felt his feet slam into solid ground, he had to force himself not to topple over, the light slowly ebbing away. He found himself standing in a room with a round altar, the stone pedestal smeared with dried blood.

_What just happened? Was I...transported? Did someone bring me here?_

Kei was startled out of his thoughts as the ghost of a young woman materialized before him on the altar, ropes tied tightly around her wrists, ankles and neck. Each dais stationed around the altar was turning on its own, steadily pulling the ropes tighter, the sound filling the cavernous room. Kei was overcome with a sudden and terrible fear, finding that his legs did not want to listen to his mind and move. As he watched in a kind of transfixed horror, the ropes snapped and the woman was able to slowly push herself up, head lolling unpleasantly.

_I can't fight her..._

He wasn't sure why, but he knew, for some reason, he didn't have the power to vanquish this ghost. She was strong, he could sense that. Too strong for his weak spiritual power. His heart hammered painfully as she stepped off of the altar and hovered eerily in front of him, ropes dangling. Was this it, then? Was he going to die?

Before he could even raise his camera in a feeble attempt to ward the woman off, the doors on the other side of the altar room opened to reveal a pale figure standing there, dark eyes emotionless and staring. He tilted his head slightly toward Kei, then turned and started walking down the hall, as though sure his message had been received and the very-much-alive man would follow.

It was as if a fog had lifted from Kei's mind, his fear fading away at the sight of Mafuyu. He sprinted around the altar, barely registering the icy touch on his shoulder as the shrine maiden lunged for him, and hurtled into the long corridor, the stone doors slamming shut behind him.

_If you follow the dead, you can't go back..._

Kei kept running, Mafuyu's form drawing closer with each step. He was so close, he could almost reach him. Stretching out one hand, Kei called out for Mafuyu to stop, grabbing his shoulder to turn him...

And then Mafuyu was gone. Kei stopped, staring hopelessly at the spot his friend had been occupying not a moment before. Mafuyu was gone; he had died three years ago. Kei really couldn't expect to _grab_ a ghost and stop him—

"Why did you follow me?"

Kei gasped, fairly certain that his heart had stopped. Slowly, he turned around to find Mafuyu standing behind him, looking almost sad. For a long time, Kei could do nothing but stare at him, his heart making up for the sudden standstill by beating doubly as fast.

"You shouldn't come down this far...you might get trapped. Didn't you realize she stopped her pursuit as soon as you left the room? It's safe to go back now."

Kei shook his head a little, finding his voice. "Mafuyu...I just...I wanted to see you again."

Mafuyu smiled softly, stepping forward a little so that he was right in front of Kei. He was somewhat shorter than the other man. "You weren't looking for me, though."

"I should have been," Kei said quietly, looking away from Mafuyu. "Three years ago...when Miku-chan found Yuu and Rei-san...and I heard from Yuu what happened to you. I was devastated, but I didn't have the time to feel the loss like I should have, and I'm sorry for that. Mio is my niece, I'm very close to her...the pain of losing Mayu and my sister, then finding Mio in a coma was too much. It brought me here..."

Mafuyu didn't say anything for a moment, slipping his arms around Kei and pulling the man close to him. Kei instinctively hugged Mafuyu back, the shorter man feeling very cold...but _solid. _Ghosts weren't solid...unless, perhaps, they wanted themselves to be? He had no idea, really...but he wasn't going to complain.

"I'm so sorry...I've missed you so much, Mafuyu. There was just so much I never got to say..."

"You always liked Yuu better, didn't you...?"

Kei faltered, slightly stunned by the coldness of Mafuyu's question. "W-what?"

"You were close to Yuu. You really liked him..."

Kei frowned a little, not releasing his hold on the other man. He would never be able to do this again...and he had never been able to do it while Mafuyu was alive. It had been painful to think about Mafuyu, knowing he was dead, but now that he was here, holding his depressingly cold body, the pain was so much worse. He would never feel his warmth...

"Yuu was my best friend; I admit that I liked him a lot. But...I think I loved you then, Mafuyu..."

Mafuyu pulled back a little and looked into Kei's face, a sad smile playing across his lips. He then leaned up into the taller man, placing a soft, albeit icy, kiss on Kei's lips.

"I know."

Mafuyu pulled back from him and stepped past him, heading toward the double doors behind Kei. When he reached them, he stopped for a moment to look back.

"Go back. You can still get through this. Take care of Miku, won't you? I know she has to be upset...Tell her I don't blame her for anything. It was my decision..."

Kei turned to Mafuyu and shook his head, taking a step toward him. He couldn't let him go, not after he finally found him. He had tried, for three years, not to dwell on Mafuyu, to focus on his work. And then when this thing with Mio came up, his memories of loss returned to him and he realized just how much he had cared for Mafuyu.

"No...I want to go with you..."

"You have to live." He smiled a little, one hand resting on the stone doors. "And Kei? I never got to tell you...that I love you too..."

Kei's eyes flew open and he sat up quickly, breathing fast, his heart racing. Dim sunlight streamed in through the nearby window, the sound of rain filling the room. He looked around Rei's lonely living room, his eyes stinging with tears. Mafuyu was gone, and even if he returned to that place in his dreams, he would never find him again. Was it really so bad to want to die and be with someone you love?

"Mafuyu..."

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**Author's Notes:Yes, it sucks, but I finished the game and was totally compelled to write a piece of crap. Besides, there's not enough FF shounen-ai out there. And come on, Mafuyu is adorable...and so is Kei. So they're cute together! Yay.**


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